Bittersweet Baroda

Notwithstanding the discrimination he faced in the city, Ambedkar was always indebted to Sayajirao Gaekwad III

- NANDINI OZA

In 1950, 11 years after Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda died, B.R. Ambedkar wrote to the I then ruler of Baroda Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad, saying that he wanted to write about the life of the late ruler.

The desire remained unfulfilled, probably because of Ambedkar's failing health, but the four-page handwritten letter spoke volumes of Ambedkar's reverence for Sayajirao. "He was my patron and architect of my fortune," read the letter dated October 10, 1950. "It was he who gave me the higher education that has enabled me to reach the high status I occupy today in public life."

A pioneering force in the movement for girls' education, removal of untouchability and widow remarriage, Sayajirao gave Ambedkar *25 a month to study at Bombay's Elphinstone College. Later, for his stay at Columbia University, the ruler gave the scholar £11.5 a month. Ambedkar did his master's in arts with a specialisation in economics. He later studied at the London School of Economics, too.

"I owe a deep debt of gratitude I wish I could adequately repay. The only way I could do is to write his life," Ambedkar had written.

A firm believer in education for all, Sayajirao had opened special schools for dalits as the other communities refused to study with or even teach them. To help with this, Sayajirao brought Atmaram Amritsari, an Arya Samaj member, from Punjab, who would go on to help Ambedkar personally.